Apparatus and method for fitting and removal of gloves

ABSTRACT

Glove fitting apparatus including cuff holding means ( 14 ) adapted to hold open the cuff opening of a glove, and adapted to release said glove after insertion of a user&#39;s hand, and support means ( 20 ) for supporting the cuff holding means. The glove may be released directly from the holding means, or alternatively, the glove may be released by way of releasing of the holding means from the support means. The retaining means may include stiffening means wherein the support means releasably holds the stiffening means and the glove supported thereby. It is also preferred that the stiffening means includes a ring assembly ( 14 ) comprising two rings which fit closely one inside the other such that when the opening of the glove is fitted over the inner ring, the outer ring may be tightly engaged about the inner ring to clamp the opening of the glove between the two rings.

This invention relates to apparatus and methods for fitting and removalof gloves.

This invention has particular application to the fitting and removal ofgloves in sterile or hygienic environments, and for illustrativepurposes, reference will be made to such application. It is to beunderstood, however, that this invention may also be used in otherapplications, such as in other work environments where hands-freefitting of gloves is desirable. This invention also has application inthe fitting and removal of other apparel such as mittens and such like.

In the medical industry, protective gloves are worn by surgeons andother medical practitioners to avoid contaminating a patient. Gloves mayalso be worn to prevent transmission of disease from the patient to thepractitioner.

In sterile environments in particular, such as operating theatres andpreparation rooms, surgical gloves are donned by a surgeon with theassistance of a surgeon's assistant or the like, who is already providedwith gloves. In such situations, it is difficult to provide a glovedsurgeon without potentially compromising the sterility of the gloves.

The present invention aims to alleviate one or more of the abovedisadvantages and to provide apparatus and methods for fitting of gloveswhich will be reliable and efficient in use.

With the foregoing in view, this invention in one aspect resides broadlyin glove fitting apparatus including:

cuff holding means adapted to hold open the cuff opening of a glove, andadapted to release said glove after insertion of a user's hand, and

support means for retaining said cuff holding means.

The release of the glove may be by way of releasing the glove from theholding means, or alternatively, by release of the holding means fromthe retaining means.

Preferably, the cuff holding means includes stiffening means and theretaining means releasably supports the stiffening means and the glovesupported thereby. In one embodiment, the stiffening means includes alight stiff ring attached to the open end of the glove; and theretaining means is constituted by a rigid bracket assembly for thelocation of the ring. Additionally, the glove fitting apparatus may beprovided in pairs, the gloves being provided in complementary left andright hand configurations.

Suitably, the ring has an internal diameter large enough for thewearer's hand to pass through unimpeded. For example, the internaldiameter is the ring may be selected to be sufficient for the wearer'sclosed fist to pass therethrough. The ring may be moulded as an integralpart of the glove, or it may be a ring assembly comprising two hoopswhich fit closely one inside the other such that when the opening of theglove is fitted over the inner hoop, the outer hoop may be tightlyengaged about the inner hoop to clamp the opening of the glove betweenthe two hoops. A third hoop may also be provided to enclose the twofitted hoops and provide additional clamping force to hold the gloveopening in place as well as enclose the edge of the glove opening.

The ring assembly is of a configuration consistent with permitting thewearer's hand or fist to pass therethrough, such as circular, but may beoval or other shapes to conform to the usual shape of a wearer's wrist.

The retaining means is generally in the nature of opposed longitudinallyspaced apart laterally extending means for retaining the opened cuff andcuff holding means. The retaining means is preferably in the form of alocating bracket adapted to releasably hold the cuff holding means. Forexample, where the cuff holding means is in the form of theaforementioned ring assembly, the locating bracket assembly may consistof two thin but rigid vertical plates separated by a distance slightlywider than the width of the ring assembly. This separation of the platesis such that the ring assembly may be made to slide between them withlittle or no resisting force, the ring assembly being held in place bygravity.

The present invention also aims to provide apparatus and methods forremoval of gloves.

In another aspect, this invention resides broadly in glove removalapparatus including:

cuff holding means adapted to hold open the cuff of a glove, andretaining means for supporting said cuff holding means for removal of auser's hand from said glove.

The glove fitting apparatus and glove removal apparatus may beincorporated into a single glove fitting and removal apparatus ifrequired.

In another aspect, this invention resides broadly in a method ofinserting a user's hand into a glove, including:

providing glove apparatus as herein before defined;

inserting the user's hand through the cuff opening means, and

releasing said glove from said cuff holding means.

In another aspect, this invention resides broadly in a method ofinserting a user's hand into a glove, including:

providing glove apparatus as herein before defined;

inserting the user's hand through the cuff opening means, and

releasing said cuff holding means from said retaining means.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put intopractical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate a typical embodiment of the invention andwherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 collectively show respectively a diagrammatic side partlyexploded and cut away view and an end view of a glove assembly;

FIG. 3 is exploded view of a glove assembly and bracket assembly;

FIGS. 4 to 8 collectively show diagrammatically the steps performedusing the glove assembly and bracket assembly (in sectional view) ofFIGS. 1 to 3, and

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the orientation of two bracket assemblies for usewith complementary left-and right-handed gloves.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a glove assembly 11 includes a glove 12having a glove opening 13 and a ring assembly 14 which comprises aninner hoop 19 and an outer hoop 18. The outer surface of the inner ring19 is tapered to a close fit on the inner diameter of the outer hoop 18,which is also tapered. The glove opening 13 is stretched out over theoutside surface of the inner hoop 19 and wedged between the inner hoop19 and the outer hoop 18. With the material of the glove interposedbetween the inner and outer hoops 18 and 19 respectively, the clearancebetween the hoops 18 and 19 is such that the glove is clamped tightlybetween the hoops 18 and 19.

Referring to FIG. 3, the glove assembly 11 may be located in a bracketassembly 20, which is shown in exploded form. The bracket assembly 20includes a back plate 21 and a front plate 23 which are separated by twoguide plates 22. The front plate 23 has a front slot 24 and the backplate 21 has a back slot 25.

The front and back slots 24 and 25 include curved base portions and therespective guide plates 22 are inserted between the front plate 23 andthe back plate 21 at an oblique angle to create a trapezium sectionedcavity into which the ring assembly 14 may be inserted. The insertion ofthe glove assembly 11 is such that the opening is towards the frontplate 23, facing towards a wearer in the direction of an arrow 29.

The front plate 23 also includes respective upper curved portions 28 oneach side of the front slot 24 for guiding the wrist of a user into thefront slot 24 when replacing the glove assembly into the bracketassembly 20 for removing the glove 12 from the hand.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 8, there shown are eight steps in using theglove assembly 11 and bracket assembly 20, which constitute a glove andbracket assembly 10. A user, whose hand or arm is represented at 30, maydon the glove assembly 11 in the eight steps shown by way of example inFIGS. 4 to 8. It may be considered that the left hand side of FIGS. 4 to8 represents a “dirty side”, and the right hand side cf FIGS. 4 to 8represents a “clean side”.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, two glove and bracket assemblies 10 areprovided in complementary pairs, one glove assembly 11 being for theleft hand and the other glove assembly 11 being for the right hand.

The respective bracket assemblies 20 are provided in spaced apartrelationship, with respective central axes 46 at a separation distance41 of 250 mm. The respective bracket assemblies 20 are also at apreferred angle to one another in plane view, the angle being defined bythe relationship of each bracket assembly 20 to a wearer's frontal planerepresented by the frontal axis 45 which intersects with two respectivebracket axes 44 at an axis intersection point 40. Each bracket axis 44is at a separation angle 42 of 30°.

A glove fitting apparatus of this invention may be used to fit and/orremove gloves from a wearer as shown in particular in FIGS. 4 to 8. Theslots 24 and 25 are provided with vertical sides of sufficient width toallow a wearer's fist to pass therebetween. The distance between thevertical sides of the slots 24 and 25 however is less than the internaldiameter of the ring assembly 14.

The bracket assembly may be bench or wall mounted or positioned in amanner that allows adequate free access above the vertical slots. Thebracket assemblies may be formed using fabricated sheet metal or plasticor cast in metal or plastic products.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 8, the fitting of the glove assembly 11 by awearer may, for example, be achieved in a series of operations which aredescribed hereinafter with reference to the steps set forth in FIGS. 4to 8:

1) firstly placing the ring assembly 14 of the glove 12 into the bracketassembly 20;

2) if the inside surface of the glove 12 is exposed to the wearer'swrist and hand 30 being fitted with the glove 12, as shown in particularin FIG. 4, the wearer pushes the proud surface through the ring assembly14 away from his or her body in the direction of an arrow 31, with aslightly closed hand;

3) the hand 30 then follows the inner surface of the glove 12 throughthe ring assembly 14 pushing the wearer's fingers into the correspondingfingers of the glove 12 being fitted;

4) once the wearer's fingers are in place and the glove 12 has beenfitted, the gloved hand may be lifted to raise the glove assembly 11 upand out of the bracket assembly 20 in the direction of an arrow 32. Theglove assembly 11 has been disengaged from the bracket assembly 20allowing the wearer to utilise the glove in the usual manner.

De-gloving may also be achieved in a series of operations of the wearer,also shown as an example in FIGS. 4 to 8:

5) firstly moving the gloved hand in the direction at 90° to the plates21 and 23 of the bracket assembly so that the ring assembly movesbetween the plates 21 and 23, and the wrist 30 moves between the slots45 and 25 of these plates 21 and 23;

6) the gloved hand continues to move until the ring assembly 14 contactsthe back plate 21 of the bracket assembly 20;

7) the gloved hand is then allowed to drop in the direction of an arrow33 to permit the ring assembly 14 to fall between the front and backplates 21 and 23 of the bracket assembly 20 and is further guided intoposition by the two (2) rigid inclined guide plates 22 that separate thefront and back plates 21 and 23.

8) Once the ring assembly 14 is held by the bracket assembly 20, such asbeing wedged between the guide plates, the ring assembly 14 is locked inthe forward and backward direction allowing the wearer to remove his orher hand 30 from the glove 12 in the direction of an arrow 34 throughthe ring assembly 14 and the vertical slots 24 and 25 of the bracketassembly 20.

The glove may be left in the apparatus so that wearer can re-glove at afuture time, or the glove may be removed so that another wearer can usethe apparatus after placing a new glove assembly 11 into the bracketassembly 20. A mark or locating flange may be used to aid in the correctpositioning of the glove on the bracket assembly to help in re-gloving.

The glove 12 may be left to hang in the apparatus so that either theinner or outer surface of the glove 12 is exposed to the atmospherepromoting faster drying. The wearer may don gloves with dry innersurfaces more rapidly.

When 2 (two) bracket assemblies 20 are used so that the wearer maysimultaneously don both left hand and right hand gloves, the bracketassemblies 20 are arranged so that they are at a comfortable workingheight and orientation for the wearer as described in respect of FIGS. 9and 10. When the apparatus is set up in this or a similar fashion, thewearer may use his or her left and right hands in a complementary mannerto remove the gloves leaving the gloves open and ready for quickerfitting.

This apparatus and technique for the fitting and removal of gloves hasmulti industry use, further reducing the need for disposable gloves withboth cost savings and improved environmental protection.

This invention allows the fitting and removal of gloves using only theone hand or arm that is being fitted. This single handed fitting andremoval avoids the need for what is normally a two handed operation, andthis reduces cross-contamination between the inside and outside surfacesof the glove.

Indeed, the glove assembly of the present invention may be used when thegloves are inside out. For donning an inside out glove, the hand of theuser may grasp the inside surface to push the body of the glove throughthe opening in the ring assembly, pushing the fingers against thesurface of the corresponding fingers of the glove until the fingers andthe body of the glove are inside out.

The glove assemblies 12 of the present invention may be supplied insterile packs with the ring assembly 14 already in place. For example,the gloves may be supplied inside out and removed from the sterile packusing a sterile utensil for placing a glove assembly 12 into a bracketassembly 20. A wearer who may have, for example, scrubbed up forperforming surgical operations, is then able to don a pair of gloveswithout contaminating same using the glove and bracket assembly 10 ofthe present invention.

It will be realised that the above has been given only by way ofillustrative example of the invention and that all such modificationsand variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in theart are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the inventionas claimed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A glove fitting apparatus comprising: at leastone stiff cuff holding ring holding a cuff of a glove open whereby auser's hand may pass through the opened cuff unimpeded; at least onebracket assembly into which the opened cuff may be introduced by lateralmovement, said bracket assembly comprising opposed longitudinally spacedapart laterally extending means for retaining the opened cuff and cuffholding ring therebetween; and wherein a user's hand may be introducedto or removed from the glove by longitudinal movement through the openedcuff.
 2. The glove fitting apparatus of claim 1: wherein said means forretaining the opened cuff captures said opened cuff and cuff holdingring for limited longitudinal movement therebetween; and wherein saidopened cuff and cuff holding ring may be introduced to said bracketassembly by unimpeded lateral movement.
 3. The glove fitting apparatusof claim 1 wherein said cuff holding ring is a lightweight circular ringabout which the cuff must be stretched to an opened position.
 4. Theglove fitting apparatus of claim 1, wherein said cuff holding ring issufficiently large to permit the gloved hand to pass freely therethroughwhereby the gloved hand may be withdrawn through the opened cuff and theglove turned inside-out when the user's hand is withdrawn therefrom. 5.The glove fitting apparatus of claim 1, wherein said cuff holding ringis comprised of an inner hoop inside the cuff, and an outer hoop outsidethe cuff, said outer hoop being tightly and removably engaged about saidinner hoop thereby clamping said cuff between said inner hoop and saidouter hoop.
 6. The glove fitting apparatus of claim 1, wherein saidopposed longitudinally spaced apart laterally extending retaining meansare walls formed with complementary slots therein to permit lateralentry of the cuff and cuff holding ring therebetween.
 7. The glovefitting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said bracket assembly constitutesone of a pair of spaced apart bracket assemblies for capturingrespective ones of a pair of gloves each fitted with a said stiff cuffholding ring holding the cuff of the respective glove open whereby auser's hands may pass through the respective opened cuffs unimpeded. 8.A method of storing gloves ready for use, comprising: providing a cuffholding ring, and a glove having a cuff; providing a bracket assemblycomprising opposed longitudinally spaced apart laterally extending meansfor retaining the cuff holding ring; stretching the cuff around the cuffholding ring; inserting the cuff holding ring holding the cuff of theglove open into the bracket assembly in a space between the laterallyextending means for retaining the cuff holding ring for retentionthereby and with the glove extending to a respective side correspondingto the glove being supported in a normal or inside-out attitude.
 9. Amethod of inserting a user's hand into a glove comprising: providing acuff holding ring, and a glove having a cuff; providing a bracketassembly comprising opposed longitudinally spaced apart laterallyextending means for retaining the cuff holding ring; stretching the cuffaround the cuff holding ring; inserting the cuff holding ring holdingthe cuff of the glove open into the bracket assembly for retentionthereby and with the glove extending to a respective side correspondingto the glove being supported in a normal or inside-out attitude;inserting the user's hand through the cuff of the glove; and laterallymoving the user's hand thereby disengaging the glove and cuff holdingring from the bracket assembly.
 10. A glove fitting apparatuscomprising: a substantially rigid cuff holding ring; said cuff holdingring having an inner diameter, an outer diameter, and a depth transverseto the diameters; a bracket assembly comprising a back plate and a frontplate; wherein said bracket assembly has a vertical axis, a bottom and atop; wherein said back plate is substantially parallel to said frontplate, said front plate being separated from said back plate by adistance greater than the depth of the cuff holding ring; wherein saidfront plate has a front slot and said back plate has a back slot, saidfront slot and back slot having widths smaller that the outer diameterof the cuff holding ring; and wherein a space is defined between saidfront plate and said back plate, said space capable of receiving saidcuff holding ring.
 11. The glove fitting apparatus of claim 10 whereinsaid substantially rigid cuff holding ring comprises an inner hoop andan outer hoop, both having an inner surface and an outer surface,wherein the outer surface of the inner hoop is tapered to a close fit tothe inner surface of the outer hoop, the inner surface of the outer hoopalso being tapered.
 12. The glove fitting apparatus of claim 10 whereinthe cuff holding ring has an inner diameter large enough to allow auser's hand to pass through the ring unimpeded.
 13. The glove fittingapparatus of claim 10 wherein the bracket assembly further comprises twoguide plates.
 14. The glove fitting apparatus of claim 13 wherein thetwo guide plates are substantially transversely attached to both thefront plate and the back plate symmetrically about the vertical axis,said guide plates being separated by a distance slightly larger than theouter diameter of the cuff holding ring.
 15. A method of storing glovesready for use comprising: providing a cuff holding ring, and a glovehaving a cuff; providing a front plate and a back plate each having aslot; arranging the front plate and back plate such that they aresubstantially parallel and such that the slots on each are oriented inthe same direction, thereby forming a bracket assembly; stretching thecuff of the glove around the cuff holding ring such that the cuff isthereby held open; and inserting the cuff holding ring and the cuff intoa space defined between the front plate and the back plate of thebracket assembly for retention thereby and with the glove extending to arespective side corresponding to the glove being supported in a normalor inside-out attitude.
 16. A method for inserting a user's hand into aglove comprising: providing a cuff holding ring, and a glove having acuff; providing a front plate and a back plate each having a slot;arranging the front plate and back plate such that they aresubstantially parallel and such that the slots on each are oriented inthe same direction, thereby forming a bracket assembly; stretching thecuff of the glove around the cuff holding ring such that the cuff isthereby held open; inserting the cuff holding ring and the cuff into aspace defined between the front plate and the back plate of the bracketassembly for retention thereby and with the glove extending to arespective side corresponding to the glove being supported in a normalor inside-out attitude; inserting the user's hand through the cuffholding ring; and removing the hand and glove from the bracket assemblyin a direction of motion substantially transverse to the insertionmotion.
 17. A method of removing a user's hand from a glove comprising:providing a cuff holding ring holding open a cuff of a glove; providinga user's hand which is inside the glove; providing a front plate and aback plate each having a slot; arranging the front plate and back platesuch that they are substantially parallel and such that the slots oneach are oriented in the same direction, thereby forming a bracketassembly; placing the cuff holding ring and the cuff into a spacedefined between the front plate and the back plate of the bracketassembly for retention thereby; withdrawing the hand through the cuffholding ring in a direction substantially transverse to the placingmotion.